18. Breathe Awareness

When we switch off a computer it shuts down. Our mind does not. We are always collecting data, processing that data, or conveying that data through gossip.

If we acknowledge this fully, we are actually fostering a lifestyle. It is one based on our fears. We fear that someone will be better than us. Surely, they are. But there are also many people who are behind us. We rarely think of them.

We can chat for hours on telephone, cellphone especially, or watch movies, or television. But if we are asked to sit down by ourselves quietly, simply doing nothing, all by ourselves, many of us will go crazy. We just cannot.

We are afraid to face our fears. We experience our fears over and over again. We are always afraid of something or the other. Even when we enjoy something we are afraid that we may lose that enjoyment. If we have experienced life to the core of our being, then we will know that we have nothing to be afraid of, because we have nothing to lose. If something is to be lost it is best to lose it fast and move on. Understand this: anything that can be lost is not worth having!

If we really experience life completely, we will never fear death. Because life and death are not two separate things but are two sides of the same coin. If we have experienced life, we realize that death is not an end to life, but the climax of life, the peak of our life.

Death is an intense experience. It is an intense energy undergoing a transformation. The Bhagavad Gita says death is nothing but the changing of our shirt. Only here are we changing our body into another one. And this changing of the body will lead to an inner transformation.

The software to access this inner transformation and finding the spot of peace is pre-loaded in every human body. If we breathe then we are eligible for enlightenment. But the transformation happens away from the hustle and bustle of data. It happens in solitude, in the inner quiet. When it strikes it is an irreversible event.

Meditation, being in the moment, is the shortest and simplest practice to release our mind from the endless loop. We can acknowledge whatever is happening. We can accept it. Take a deep breathe and acknowledge every discomfort, emotion, pain, fear experience. This awareness is the key to transformation.